Silvia Earle is an independent activist who has been fighting for the preservation of the Ocean health for more than 5 decades. Mission Blue is a movie that is named after her initiative with a goal to ignite public support in order to preserve the vital places of Oceans known as “Hope spots.” She has a target to create a global Marine network of protected areas and safeguard 20% of ocean by the year of 2020 ("Home - Mission Blue").
In his article Michael Jay Fogarty argues that MPAs (Marine Protected Areas) are not the most effective way of protecting Oceans. Michael places his arguments based on the experiment on Georges Bank which was an MPA restricted for fishery and closed in 1994. He argues based on the aftermath of the closure of the Georges bank that although it had been beneficial in preserving some of the species but not all of them (Fogarty).
“Mission Blue” serves a specific purpose of informing the general public about the issues faced by the ocean preservation and creates awareness at the mass level for ocean preservation; however, it is more of a biography of activist Silvia Earle (“Watch Mission Blue Online | Netflix”).
Post-evaluation of the article and the movie I believe more on the suggestion by the Michael that only creating MPA is not the most effective way of preserving marine life.
Hope spots are places inside the oceans that are protected from various commercial and non-commercial activities. The purpose is to protect marine flora and fauna of those areas. Hope spots are chosen based on the importance of the surrounding area, biodiversity, critical habitats and other factors like carbon sink and oxygen generation capabilities ("Mpatlas » Hope Spots").
Yes, I agree with Sylvia Earle that oceans must be protected and that they are our life source. For example, we are already protecting land by creating forest reserves, and biodiversity parks, similarly we must take efforts for the oceans, as well.
Yes, I support Mission blue and it is something which is the need of the current times and it is in our own interest to conserve ocean species.
Works Cited
Fogarty, Michael Jay. "Do Marine Protected Areas Really Work?". Oceanus Magazine. N.p., 2005. Web. 11 May 2016.
"Home - Mission Blue". Mission Blue. N.p., 2016.
Web. 11 May 2016.
"Mpatlas » Hope Spots". Mpatlas.org. N.p., 2016. Web. 11 May 2016.
"Watch Mission Blue Online | Netflix". Netflix.com. N.p., 2016.
Web. 11 May 2016.
